


The Tale of the Gallant Familiar

by RedhathackerSin



Category: Naruto, ゼロの使い魔 | Zero no Tsukaima | The Familiar of Zero
Genre: Action/Adventure, Gen, Training, toad summons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-25
Updated: 2018-09-26
Packaged: 2019-07-02 10:55:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 19,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15795072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedhathackerSin/pseuds/RedhathackerSin
Summary: Beautiful? Not really. Divine? He really didn't get along with divinity. Wise and Strong? He supposed those fit, every once in awhile anyway. Louise summons the original Toad Sage to Halkeginia. The bathhouses should beware.





	1. Chapter 1

Jiraiya felt at peace as he slowly drifted into the depths. Even if he had been utterly defeated by his onetime pupil, he had been able to send out a missive that would hopefully let Konoha triumph over the coming threat. Nagato had been thorough in his attempt on Jiraiya's life and so the old Toad Hermit welcomed the inky blackness that was already on the edge of his vision.

He pondered the meaning of his death as he was drifting and decided that it was finally time to write a sequel to his first book, but what would the title be? He thought for a few seconds before a content smile spread across his face. Yes, The Tale of Uzumaki Naruto had a nice ring to it.

Just as he decided on this title, he heard a voice echoing around him, even though he was slowly falling into the deep.

"My servant that exists somewhere in this vast universe; my divine, beautiful, wise, and powerful servant, heed my call…"

Well he didn't know about divine or beautiful, especially in the state he was in, but wise and powerful? He could perhaps be those. Before he had any more time to contemplate the words being spoken, they continued.

"I wish from the very bottom of my heart and add to my guidance and appear!"

Jiraiya could only listen as he suddenly felt a pull behind him, and then he was spinning off in what had to be the most annoying reverse summoning that he had ever been through, and that included the first time he had gone to the toads.

And then everything was drowned out in the noise of an explosion.

* * *

Louise Francoise Lu Blanc de La Vallière was almost paralyzed with fear as she heard her name called by Professor Colbert. This was the make or break event in which she would showcase that she was not a zero as everyone kept on telling her. She would succeed. Taking a deep breath she stepped forward and began her chant.

"My servant that exists somewhere in this vast universe; my divine, beautiful, wise, and powerful servant, heed my call…"

She pushed as much willpower into her spell as she possibly could, she would not fail this one spell.

"I wish from the very bottom of my heart and add to my guidance and appear!"

For a terrifying moment, nothing happened. Then the field that they had been summoning the familiars on was engulfed in her biggest explosion to date. Louise coughed as the dust was thrown everywhere, and she heard other students in much the same state as her. She couldn't see anything, but she definitely heard something breathing within the dust. Her hope soared as she realized that she had finally been able to do a spell right! But just as soon as that thought entered her mind, the smoke began to clear and her elation was slowly turning into horror.

Standing roughly where she judged the epicenter of the explosion to be was what looked like a bear of a man. He had long white hair, was dressed in green and red and had the most outlandish footwear that she had ever seen. However, it wasn't his attire that caught her attention. No, that honor went to the grievous wounds that he had.

She felt her heart drop as she realized that the man was covered in blood and, if her eyes weren't deceiving her, his left arm looked as though it had been blown off. He was also inexplicably soaked. Had her explosions finally gotten someone hurt?

It was at this moment that the rest of the students were able to see what she had summoned.

"Holy crap! Louise killed someone!"

Louise tried to deny this accusation, but she found that her mouth wasn't working at the moment. She could only stand with her wand raised and mouth opened in horror as a blur rushed past her. Professor Colbert rushed to the stranger that she had killed and bent over him. After a moment of examination he glanced at Louise sharply.

"Get a skilled Water Mage out here! He's still alive, but the wound on his throat is alarming!"

Louise heard the words, but didn't think she was in a position to move. However, Colbert raised his voice and the tone he used sent shivers down her spine.

"Now!"

Louise finally snapped out of her stupor at that commanding tone. Turning around she ran as fast as she could toward the Medical Ward. She burst in and had to pant out Colbert's request.

"Somebody's been injured! Please hurry!"

The Water mages wasted no time and followed Louie back to the site of her summoning. Colbert looked up as she arrived and nodded at her. He then turned to the Water mages.

"I've been able to stabilize him somewhat, but I'm not a true healer, it's only battlefield medicine that I can do."

One of the healers nodded in acceptance.

"That's alright, leave the rest to us."

The two mages that had followed her got to work quickly, and soon the bear of a man was being moved to the Medical Ward.

"Well, I think for now we'll have to wait until he's in a more stable condition before we can finish the contract."

Louise glanced sideways at Colbert. Clearly he wasn't as fazed by Louise most likely killing someone as she was. She bit her lip in fear. What if he died and she had to summon something again and then the same result happened. She didn't want to keep killing people! Even if it was unintentional. She would just have to pin her hopes on the familiar she had already summoned. Hopefully he would survive.

As she was contemplating this a tanned and busty red head sidled up to her.

"Well Louise, I always thought you were a Zero, but it looks like your explosions have finally killed someone!"

Louise gritted her teeth in frustration at the red head's accusation.

"Shut up, Kirche!"

Kirche merely laughed haughtily at Louise's distress.

"Well hopefully you don't try to summon anything else, to think that you'd summon a commoner and half kill him!"

Louise felt her fist clench in anger and shame at Kirche's taunting. She closed her eyes to try and hide the tears that she could feel beginning to gather.

"Oh well, I suppose we might have to call you Louise the Killer after this!"

Louise heard jarring laughter at Kirche's taunts. It seemed that the others had come over to join in on the taunting.

"I think that might actually be worse than being a Zero! What if she kills one of us next!?"

"No way! She's too scary, we should expel her immediately!"

Louise took a deep breath and tried to gather her composure. She opened her eyes and saw through a watery gaze that Kirche looked slightly startled. Well, good. That Germanian bitch deserved to feel bad. Louise turned on her heel and stalked away from her jeering classmates towards the Medical Ward. She would need to be there to see what became of her familiar.

* * *

Jiraiya felt himself floating. He tried to remember what had happened, but it seemed to be slipping away. He had been fighting his former pupil, had been gravely wounded, and then tossed into the sea. After that he had hallucinated a reverse summoning. Perhaps that's how death actually felt like? What a strange way to go onto the next world.

However, he soon became aware that he could actually feel a soft bed beneath him along with a soft pillow and sheets. Making sure that his breathing was completely calm he snapped open his eyes.

The room he was in was bathed in moonlight. He glanced around and his eyes fell on a girl in a maid outfit gathering what looked like bloody towels. His eyes rose up as he took in her appearance. She seemed to be quite the beauty by the looks of it.

Short black hair, a maid outfit that couldn't hide her figure, and she was moving quite quietly. Finally she turned around and he was met with blue eyes.

For a moment the two merely looked at each other and then the maid let out a small gasp.

"Mr. Familiar, you're awake!"

Before he had a chance to try and answer the maid, she had rushed out of the room. Well, that went well, and why did she call him Mr. Familiar? Sighing, he attempted to sit up, but was stopped short by something. He felt no pain in his throat.

His right hand flew to his neck and he was shocked to feel that it had been completely healed. Whoever had patched him up had done a damn good job, perhaps something that even rivaled Tsunade's work. Before anything else happened, the door opened once more, this time it was pretty much thrown open and in strolled two obvious nurses and a ridiculously old man. He frowned as he took in the man's appearance. He much preferred the company of the cute maid.

The man had one of the fullest beards he had ever seen, reaching down to his waistline and he was dressed in black robes hiding his figure from the world. He was also supported by a wooden staff. Jiraiya was able to complete his analysis in a second and judging by the way the two nurses were deferent to the guy, he was obviously someone in a position of power.

"Well now, I must say you gave all of us quite the scare, especially the young mage that summoned you. She thought she had killed you!"

Jiraiya grinned at that. Whatever summoned him here had definitely saved him. He would have most likely died if she hadn't called him to wherever here was. He glanced down to his left and grimaced. It seemed his arm wasn't able to be saved. When he looked back up he saw that the old man had noticed his expression.

"We were able to heal all your other wounds, but unfortunately, your arm was gone and so we couldn't reattach it."

Jiraiya merely grinned to mask his slight alarm. Without an arm he couldn't perform some of his more deadly jutsu, but he was a freaking Sannin, he could get by with just one arm. Finally he spoke, and damn did it feel good to be able to hear his own voice again, even if it was a little rough.

"That's no problem. I can get by with one arm. Now then, I suppose you have my thanks, if you hadn't summoned me here, then I wouldn't be alive."

The old man seemed slightly surprised by his statement.

"Do you mean to tell me that your summoning wasn't the cause of your injuries?"

Jiraiya merely laughed boisterously.

"A mere summoning wouldn't be able to injure the Gallant Jiraiya!"

It was here that he would normally go through his introduction dance, but he decided to forgo it as he only had one arm and his balance was probably screwed to all hell right now. The man seemed amused by Jiraiya's statement if the raising of his eyebrows were any indication.

"Well then, Jiraiya was it, I think it's time you met the person who summoned you."

With that said the man stepped back and Jiraiya felt his own eyebrows rise. Standing in the doorway was a little slip of a girl who looked no more than 13. She had hair the color of his student's teammate and was wearing a white blouse and black skirt combo as well as a cloak.

All in all she looked like some sort of magician. She was also looking at him with a hint of shame and anger.

"So I wasn't the one who had caused you to get hurt?"

Jiraiya almost winced at the hopeful tone she displayed. Well, he was never one to make a girl cry. He once more let loose a boisterous laugh.

"Do you have any idea who you're talking to little lady! I am the Gallant Jiraiya! Like I told that old man, a mere explosion wouldn't be able to defeat me! Now then, what's your name?"

The girl's shame was rapidly disappearing and in its place was only anger. However, before that anger could really be turned on him, the old man stepped in.

"I think it's time you finish the contract."

The girl seemed to calm down at that and pulled out a wooden stick that vaguely looked like a magic wand to Jiraiya.

"You should be grateful, commoner. I'm sure this doesn't happen often to you, and you've probably never kissed a noble."

Jiraiya felt his alarm spike at that. He was no stranger to kissing, but he had to draw the line at whatever age the girl was.

"Well, I'm sure you're a very nice person, but I don't usually kiss preteen girls, it goes against my nature."

Evidently this was the wrong thing to say, if the anger that flared across the girl's face was anything to go by.

"I'm sixteen!"

Jiraiya had to pause in amazement at that, and it was then that the tiny sixteen year old struck. She kissed him full on the lips. For a moment nothing happened, and then he was engulfed in quite a bit of pain. It felt as if his veins were on fire. What the hell had that little slip of a girl done to him? Had she poisoned him? Suddenly the pain in his left stump of a hand doubled and he felt rather than saw something that would have amazed him if he wasn't in so much pain at the moment. His arm was slowly but surely coming back into existence.

He heard the sharp intakes of breath and knew that even in the place that he had been summoned, re-growing a limb wasn't exactly common. Finally, with one more concentrated spurge of pain on his newly formed left hand, whatever had happened came to an end.

Jiraiya breathed heavily for a moment before pinning the girl with a stare. He didn't use any killing intent, merely looked at the girl sternly.

"What was that?"

It seemed he wouldn't be getting any answers out of the girl because she was currently gaping at his new left arm, which he noted now had some form of seal on the back of the left hand. Jiraiya felt his eyebrows rise as he had never seen a seal like the one he now had. Well, that could be intriguing later on, but first things first. He once more pinned the girl with his gaze, this time letting a bit of his intent to kill leak through.

"I asked. What was that?"

The reaction was instantaneous. The old man had pushed the girl behind him, and the girl looked as though she might wet herself. He sighed as he let go of his killing intent, and noticed as those present relaxed. He inwardly scoffed. As if he would indiscriminately kill the people who had patched him up.

"Well, can I at least ask your names? The gaki over there never did answer that question."

The girl flushed with embarrassment before she stepped around the old man.

"My name is Louise Francoise Lu Blanc de La Vallière. Don't forget it, familiar."

Jiraiya blinked at the overly long and complicated name before he nodded.

"Right, Louise it is then and you?"

His attention was turned to the old man, who had recovered the fastest out of all the people there. He was definitely one to watch out for.

"My name is Osmond, the Headmaster of the Tristain Academy of Magic."

Jiraiya found himself blinking once more. Well, a place that called what they did magic. Clearly he wasn't in Amegakure anymore.

"Alright then, I suppose that works."

Having had the last word, Jiraiya stepped out of the bed. Well, someone had been kind enough to put his geta near, perhaps it was that maid? Smiling, he put his sandals on and faced his gathered audience. Well, it was time to see if his summoning was jacked up.

"Well then, allow me to introduce myself!"

He then began hopping on one foot, one of his arms raised in the air.

"Men flee before my might, and women swoon at the mere sight of me!"

He began to add in some hair twirls for extra effect.

"My enemies shake in fear, while my comrades enjoy my spoils of war!"

Before he went any further, he quickly bit into his thumb and flashed through the required hand signs. He then slammed his palm on the ground and felt the familiar pull as seals spread out. With a puff of smoke he was standing on a bear sized toad.

"I am the Gallant Jiraiya!"

His finish obviously struck awe in his audience if their dropped jaws were anything to go by. He saw Osmond slowly begin clapping, before realizing that no one else was and quickly stopped.

Well, whatever. He dismissed the toad and landed firmly on his feet before walking over to the person that had summoned him. She was even shorter when he was standing, but she quickly closed her open mouth at his imposing figure. It seemed she was glaring defiantly at him. Jiraiya merely smiled before he patted the girl on the head, ruffling her hair.

"Thanks for the save in summoning me kid, let's go talk somewhere."

Before any of the others could react he disappeared into a shunshin of leaves.

* * *

Louise felt as though her temper was going to kill her. Not only had she managed to summon some sort of wacko, he also happened to be a mage. Especially if he was able to pull of that strange speed magic. They were now atop one of the taller towers in the Academy and the man was gaping at the moons. After a few moments of this, she began to feel her temper get the better of her. However, before she could speak, her familiar beat her to it.

"So, there are two moons here. Hey, gaki, you ever hear of Hi no Kuni?"

Louise was baffled by that question, what the hell? Was that some kind of greeting? She slowly shook her head.

"I have no idea what that is."

Jiraiya glanced at her sharply, but it seemed he was alright with expounding.

"It's one of the five Great Nations of where I'm from."

A Great Nation? Why had she never heard of it then?

"Is it even in Halkeginia?"

Judging by the puzzled look on her familiar's face, it probably was not. She slammed a hand to her forehead.

She had summoned some backwater shaman from somewhere that wasn't even on the continent. She could already hear the jeers that she would face tomorrow. Sighing she turned to her familiar to see him scanning the night sky, the frown that had adorned his face deepening by the second.

"Well, it's safe to say that I have no idea where you summoned me to, gaki. I don't recognize any of the stars' positions."

Louise merely huffed in annoyance.

"We'll figure that out later, for now, let's just go to bed."

That said, she had no idea how she was going to get down from the tower, but before she could find a way, she felt a tug on the back of her blouse and was startled to realize she was lifted into the air by her familiar and then held like a sack of potatoes under his arm.

However, before she could utter a word of protest, her familiar jumped off the tower. At that point all she could do was scream in terror, but a second later they were on the ground and she was dropped like the previously mentioned potatoes.

Taking a moment to get her heartbeat back to normal, Louise caught her breath. She then felt a righteous fury at her familiar.

"What in the name of the Founder was that!?"

Her familiar merely laughed at her anger.

"A little fall won't stop me, gaki! Now then, lead on."

Louise merely grumbled to herself. Even if her familiar was some sort of freakishly strong barbarian, she still didn't want to be anywhere near him at the moment. Sighing to herself, she spun on her heel and began making her way toward her room. She just wanted this day to end.

After a few moments they came to the door that led to her room and she opened it with a massive yawn. Once she heard the door close behind her familiar she began to strip down and change into her pajamas, throwing her dirty clothes over her shoulder in the direction of her familiar.

When she was finished she turned around to see her familiar merely standing with his arms crossed, all her clothes strewn on him. She felt heat rise to her cheeks as she realized that her panties were directly on his face.

"What are you doing just standing there!? Go wash those clothes!"

He slowly peeled her undergarments off his face a look of distinct disbelief coloring his expression.

"You summoned me here to do laundry?"

She heard his emphasis on laundry and she knew that she was now in a full face flush.

"Shut up! A familiar shouldn't be questioning their Master!"

Jiraiya let out an amused chuff at that. And then he beckoned her closer. She warily approached him and was somewhat alarmed when he crouched down. It actually only brought him to eye level for her. However, the angelic smile on his face was setting off alarm bells in her mind, but she had no idea why.

"Ah, well I have one thing to say to that."

Before she could do anything, he flicked her on the forehead. Hard. Hard enough to send her flying back and land her in a heap on the bed. She felt herself tearing at the rough treatment and raised her hands to her forehead where she was sure a huge red welt would form. She turned to scold her familiar, but his expression made her freeze.

It was akin to the way he had looked when he was demanding answers on the ritual that bound him as a familiar. Thankfully, it didn't feel as though there was someone slowly strangling her this time.

"I'm not a slave, gaki. Do your own damn laundry."

Then before she could retort he had opened the door and it was obvious he was about to leave. She opened her mouth to call him back, but he was gone before she could. She was now alone with her thoughts. Apparently she had summoned a familiar that wouldn't even follow their Master's orders.

* * *

Jiraiya strolled through the hallways of the opulent castle that he now found himself in. The moonlight was strong through the windows, probably because there were two freaking moons.

That had stumped him as soon as he had seen them. Last he had checked there was only one celestial body hanging in the night sky and suddenly seeing two made him want to go and find a map somewhere to confirm his location.

He kept on walking, lost in thought as his sandals clacked on the hard floors, echoing throughout the halls. He could easily make himself silent by adjusting his weight just so, but there was no point in that at the moment. From what he understood he had been summoned to help out the little mage, but if she thought he was going to just bend over and take orders from someone 30 years his junior, she had another thing coming.

However, he was surprised by how fragile the girl was. When he had had to smack sense into Naruto a flick of that nature would only make his head snap back. Apparently these nobles were quite pampered.

He turned another corner not paying any particular attention to where he was going, when he heard giggling, and a type which he was quite familiar with. He felt the lecherous grin spread across his face at that. Well, it looked like he might have some entertainment tonight after all. Cracking his neck he glanced to the ceiling and making a decision, jumped. Sticking to surfaces with chakra was child's play to him.

Straightening out he walked around the corner to see a blonde and a brunette whispering sweet nothings to each other. Jiraiya got comfortable on the ceiling and listened in.

"Oh Katie, I would love to try a taste of your soufflé!"

Jiraiya almost fell off the ceiling at that. He could only stare in disbelief as the two went back and forth about the soufflé. Was a soufflé some kind of sexual euphemism in this land? As Jiraiya continued to listen he realized that no, it was really a soufflé that the two were talking about. Dragging a hand down his face Jiraiya shook his head in consternation. What were they teaching kids these days?

Huffing in indignation he continued on his way, but he decided to keep on sticking to the ceiling, it was more fun that way.

After a few more moments of aimless wandering he came across a maid that seemed to be struggling under a massive heap of laundry. He was about to dismiss the worker, but did a double take as he recognized her.

Well, well, if it wasn't the maid from the infirmary. He didn't remember her being there for his awesome introduction. Making a snap decision, he fell to the ground silently beside her.

"That looks like a heavy load you're trying to carry."

Predictably the maid let out a startled yelp and jumped. Unfortunately this had the side effect of sending the laundry everywhere. Luckily for her Jiraiya was there to stop her from falling on the floor. He chuckled at her startled expression as they were leaned over.

"Sorry, couldn't resist. I don't think I ever got your name in the infirmary."

The maid looked somewhat alarmed at being approached by him, but she quickly vanished from his arms. Well, that was fine. He chuckled as she began to frantically pick up the clothes she had dropped, a blush adorning her features.

"I'm terribly sorry Mr. Familiar, but I need to go and do this laundry. The nobles aren't exactly easy on servants who don't do their jobs."

Jiraiya filed that information away for a later date. He knew it was possible to tell a lot about a person by how they treated their inferiors and how the inferiors treated them in return. Nodding to himself he moved to help the maid gather the strewn clothes.

"Well as it was my fault that the clothes are on the floor, I might as well help you. By the way, my name isn't Mr. Familiar, you may call me Jiraiya."

Siesta spluttered for a moment before she seemed to accept his generosity. It was around this time that it looked as though she realized she had never answered his question.

"Ah. My name is Siesta."

Jiraiya smiled at that. It was time to show that young Casanova how it was done, even if the boy wasn't here at the moment to appreciate the gesture.

"Ah, a beautiful name, it only makes sense that it would go with a beautiful girl."

He grinned in satisfaction as the maid's face lit up in a bright red hue. Yup, he still had it. Rustling the clothes to make the maid come back from her embarrassment he strode forward.

"So, where do we actually take care of the laundry in this place?"

* * *

As they worked diligently through the laundry, Siesta began to open up and converse with him. Jiraiya was quite good at menial tasks, a necessity in the life of a shinobi; particularly one such as himself, who spent a majority of his time on the road away from civilization managing a spy network, so he could dedicate his attention to the conversation. He knew that one of the best ways to get information about a place was to look to the servants. For some reason nobles and the like seemed to forget that the hired help were indeed human and had their own thoughts and opinions. It made them an information goldmine to someone like him.

He listened as she talked about her family in Tarbes and went on to speak about the nobility in this place. Apparently, they used a form of magic to keep the peasants oppressed. Well, that was an annoyance, but by the sounds of it, magic made the nobles quite lazy and also incredibly arrogant. He smirked at this revelation, it just meant that they would be all the more easily manipulated when the time came.

However, their talk eventually came to an end as the laundry was completely finished. He bid Siesta farewell and waited for her to clear a corner before he sprung onto a roof. He used that roof as a springboard to once more get to the top of a tower.

Now that he wasn't being sucker punched by the idea of two moons, he could look over the land from this height. He memorized the various landmarks that were near the castle in case he needed to make a hasty retreat. What he really needed was some sort of map. If he had one of those, he would be able to actually begin to make a plan of action, but so far he had not seen anything that looked like a library. Perhaps he should have slipped that question to Siesta? Well, no use crying over lost opportunities.

He was about to make his way back toward Louise's room, but he felt a shiver go up his spine before he could jump. Any shinobi worth their salt knew to pay attention to their sixth sense. Someone was watching him.

He glanced around, but couldn't see anyone near him on the ground looking up, so that left the sky. He glanced up and for a moment saw nothing. However, he finally saw something shift in the shadows of the sky. Interesting. To think that someone in this land wasn't too shabby at stealth, good enough to be able to not be spotted by him right away. Squinting he could make out a silhouette in the night sky. Judging by the shape, he'd have to say it was a dragon.

Jiraiya let out a low chuckle. Let's see how well his observer's observation skills really were. He turned so that his hands were hidden from view and flashed through a series of hand seals. He let the chakra flow over him and knew that he had succeeded in executing the jutsu. The Touton Jutsu reflected light around him, making him essentially invisible to the naked eye.

He only had to wait for a moment, and then the dragon was on the tower, he was also able to finally see the dragon rider clearly. She was a little slip of a girl, about as big as Louise. Her attire consisted of the standard female uniform to this Academy, but the cloak she was wearing seemed to be a bit big on her and completely covered her form once she dismounted the dragon and looked around. Her blue hair shone in the moonlight and her delicate face was framed by a pair of glasses.

Jiraiya couldn't help it, he was impressed. Even though he was definitely invisible to this girl at the moment, she was still looking in his general direction, and judging by the grip on her staff, she was still alert. Perhaps he would have a little fun at the girl's expense. It wasn't nice to spy on people after all, unless you were a spymaster.

"Oh? And what are you doing on this tower at this time of night?"

He had dropped the jutsu slightly to the girl's left, and the dragon let out some sort of ridiculous noise that sounded something like "Kyui." The girl on the other hand, didn't openly react. In fact if he hadn't seen the slight widening of her eyes, he would have thought she hadn't been surprised at all. He would hate to have to play poker with this girl.

For a moment there was nothing but silence, but it was broken by a slight whisper.

"Observing."

Jiraiya felt an eyebrow rise at that. So she was going to openly admit to spying on him?

"I see. And why exactly do I need to be observed at the moment?"

The girl still had yet to let her guard down against him, and the staff was definitely between the two of them as a defense against any kind of attack he might make.

"Dangerous."

Jiraiya let a wry grin slip out at that. It seemed this girl was pretty damn observant after all, to be able to feel how dangerous he actually was. It was a pity she hadn't summoned him. A dragon was pretty impressive though.

"What's your name, gaki?"

Once more there was a moment of silence, he had the impression she was deciding whether or not to answer him.

"Tabitha."

Well, it seemed she was okay with answering his question after all. He then turned his attention to the dragon behind her.

"And this one's?"

The answer was a bit quicker this time around.

"Sylphid."

Sylphid and Tabitha, an interesting combo to be sure, Jiraiya decided. Jiraiya inclined his head to them. This once he would forgo his usual introduction.

"My name is Jiraiya, the Toad Sage."

Tabitha inclined her head in greeting and Sylphid copied her Mater's action, something that didn't escape Jiraiya's notice. He had a feeling that that dragon was a lot smarter than the little blue haired mage was letting him believe. Well, for now that wasn't his problem.

Jiraiya turned to leave. Now that the introductions were over, he had no reason to stay on the top of the tower. He also had something he needed to do.

"Perhaps I'll see you around, gaki."

Throwing a careless hand over his shoulder he disappeared in a shunshin, leaving a startled wind mage and dragon behind.

* * *

Jiraiya was now outside the castle and strolling in the surrounding woods. He was searching for a decent clearing that was far enough away from the castle. He needed to summon Fukusaku or Shima and see if they would be able to reverse summon him home. Konoha would need him, especially now that Nagato had decided to throw his teachings away and bring war to the world.

He bit his thumb with practiced ease and flashed through the signs. A slam of his palm and a puff of smoke later, and standing in front of him with a gob smacked expression was Fukusaku. The elder toad looked as though he had seen a ghost and if Jiraiya was honest with himself, the toad probably had. So taking a book out of Kakashi's book he raised a hand in greeting.

"Yo."

Apparently this was the wrong way to go as he was immediately clubbed over the head.

"Don't "Yo" me Jiraiya-chan! We thought you were dead!"

Jiraiya couldn't respond to Fukusaku's declaration as he was busy writhing in pain. Why the hell did that thing still hurt so much!?

"Damn it Pa! I could've died!"

His exclamation was met with another hit to the head.

"You idiot! You did die! Naruto-chan was devastated, what the hell are you doing here and not in Konoha!? In fact where is here!?"

Jiraiya could only pant in pain for a moment, but he gestured behind Fukusaku. The old toad turned around and Jiraiya was once more treated to the sight of the toad's jaw dropping open in amazement.

"Jiraiya-chan?"

Jiraiya merely grunted to show that he was listening.

"Are there two moons in the sky?"

He grunted once more, this time with a tone of confirmation.

"I see. Very well then, tell me everything."

It took a little while, but Jiraiya managed to fill in everything about his trip until now. Fukusaku listened intently throughout the explanation, only asking a few questions here and there. The old toad expressed amazement at his re-grown arm, but afterwards calmed down once more. When Jiraiya had finished, he then turned to a topic of his own interests.

"So, what is happening at home?"

He looked on as Fukusaku seemed to age at least fifty years.

"I told you already, in the eyes of Konoha, you're dead. Time seems to be moving differently here than in Konoha, your death was quite a while ago. After your 'death' Nagato came to Konoha…."

Jiraiya listened as Fukusaku explained everything that had happened since his "death." He listened as he was told of Naruto's departure to train in Senjutsu. How the boy had devised a way to get around the Kyuubi interfering with his gathering of nature chakra. He was told of Naruto becoming more efficient in the use of Senjutsu than himself and his father, who he now had knowledge of.

He listened as Nagato invaded and destroyed Konoha. Then he listened as Naruto appeared before Nagato and defeated the Sixth Paths of Pain, something that Jiraiya wasn't able to do. Then he listened as Naruto convinced Nagato to see the error of his ways, to finally be put back on the path of peace and back to his own teachings.

By the time Fukusaku had finished with the fact that there was a new menace that had been the true leader of the Akatsuki, something he had suspected for a while now, Jiraiya was feeling a myriad of emotions.

He was sad that his former student had died. He was worried for his current student. He was angry that he had gone and been summoned during these momentous occasions. However, the feeling that he was filled to bursting with, was pride. He was so damned proud of his godson, who was on the road to surpassing those who came before him.

"I see, so Naruto is going to be training to gain control of the Kyuubi."

Jiraiya had sat down on a convenient rock as Fukusaku had been going on. He mulled over all the information for a moment, but came to a decision easily enough. He stood and stretched.

"Well, this place was a nice respite, but I think it's time to try and get back to Konoha. Please reverse summon me to Mt. Myouboko. From there we can get to Konoha."

Fukusaku gave a nod of acknowledgement and disappeared in a puff of white smoke.

Jiraiya crossed his arms and began to wait. However, twenty minutes went by, and still nothing happened. What was going on? Making a decision he once more bit his thumb and flashed through the seals. Another puff of smoke and Fukusaku was once more in the clearing, looking quite frustrated.

He looked up at Jiraiya and let out a huff.

"Well, that was a bust. We tried to summon you back, but it was no good. I don't know what's going wrong, but at the moment it looks as though you can summon us just fine, but we're being blocked by something."

Jiraiya thought about the problem for a moment, before he glanced down at the strange seal on his hand.

"It looks as though I'm going to have to do some research on this side before going home."

He turned away from Fukusaku and began to walk back towards the castle.

"Take care of Naruto while I'm gone."

Fukusaku merely nodded and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

* * *

By the time Jiraiya was trudging back into the castle grounds, dawn was approaching and he could see the lightening of the sky. He was feeling a bit sluggish. Even though he had been unconscious, he had still been through a life or death battle that pushed him to his very limits and had been up pretty much the entire night. He would see what Louise was up to this morning and then possibly get a little bite to eat and then get some sleep.

He traversed the castle halls and came to the door that housed the mage who had summoned him. He opened the door and peered inside. It seemed that Louise had at some point fallen asleep, even if it looked as though it was a slightly uneasy slumber.

She was curled up in her blankets and Jiraiya was reminded of a small cat with the way she was curled into her blankets. Shaking his head he entered into the room. He didn't know exactly when the little brat wanted to wake up at, but if the sun was up then it should be okay.

With that thought Jiraiya cracked his neck and then flashed through a series of seals. In the next second Louise was drenched from his low powered water jutsu.

"Oi, gaki, get up. We need to talk. I'll wait outside while you change."

With his piece said, Jiraiya turned on his heel and walked out the room, leaving a sputtering mage behind.

* * *

Jiraiya was enjoying the morning air. For some reason the air in this place seemed slightly cleaner than anywhere else he had been. He hadn't tried to enter Sage Mode yet, but he had a feeling that the nature chakra in this place was quite nice. He glanced to his left and hid a smirk.

Both Louise and he were walking down the halls towards the dining hall. It was a somewhat funny scene with his towering stature, bright clothes, and the distinctive clack that was his geta hitting the ground. It was made all the more amusing considering Louise's hair was still slightly wet and she wore such a disgruntled expression as they headed toward the dining hall. It had been quiet since they began walking, with Louise only strolling past him and he going with the flow to see if she led him to food. However, the silence was becoming a bit stifling and he really did have things to discuss with the tiny mage.

"Well, as interesting as this little excursion has been, I have a few things to say."

Louise made no move one way or another, but she was definitely listening, so he continued.

"I've been wondering about this seal that is on the back of my hand. What exactly does it do?"

Louise narrowed her eyes at him and for a moment it seemed his question would be ignored, but she surprised him by giving an answer.

"It's the symbol of contract between Master and Familiar. I've never seen any kind of runes like the ones you have, but all the other familiars have something similar on their bodies as well."

Jiraiya nodded in thought.

"I see, and I'm guessing it's pretty hard to break this contract, right?"

Louise nodded coolly in response to his question.

"To break the contract, one of us has to die."

Jiraiya stopped walking at that. That would complicate things somewhat. Well, he would leave it alone for now. He had more important things to worry about. He once more went to Louise's side.

"I see. Well, that'll just have to be a problem for another day."

Louise opened her mouth to retort, but before she could do so, a voice rang out in the hall.

"Oh, Louise~!"

It seemed that that voice really annoyed the tiny mage, because she immediately turned to face the culprit. Jiraiya also let his eyes wander over to where Louise was looking and nearly felt his eyes pop out of his head.

Standing before them was a beauty with tan skin, red hair, and a blouse and skirt that were far too small for her assets. Jiraiya could feel a perverted gleam enter his eye at the sight of the beauty.

"Ho ho ho! It seems that your familiar has been enraptured by my beauty, Louise the Zero!"

Louise gained a twitch in her eyebrow at the other girl's comment.

"Shut up, Kirche! And you pervert! Where the hell are you looking!?"

Jiraiya adopted a very serious look at that accusation.

"You've got it wrong, gaki. I'm not a pervert."

Both Kirche and Louise stopped in shock at those words, right when they looked their most confused, Jiraiya continued.

"I'm a Super Pervert!"

This declaration was met with silence for a moment, before Kirche burst out laughing.

"He really is an interesting familiar, nothing on Flame, but still pretty interesting!"

Louise merely moved her wand in a more comfortable position and then Jiraiya was sent flying by an explosion.

"There's no breakfast for perverts!"

That said Louise disappeared up the hall with a flurry of her cloak, Kirche following in amusement behind her.

Jiraiya waited until they were around the corner before he sprang up. A quick crack of his neck and he felt good as new. There was no way something of that caliber would put him down for the count.

"Right then, let's find some food."

Jiraiya then proceeded to jump out the window. He landed on the grass perfectly fine and began to stroll towards a courtyard. When he came upon the courtyard he realized that it had filled up with all the other familiars. Perhaps now would be a good chance to see the other familiars' combat potential.

As he gazed around he noticed that Sylphid was hanging out in the yard. Well, he supposed a dragon had pretty high combat potential and judging by the wary look it was giving him, it knew he was the biggest threat here at the moment.

He was about to go toward the dragon, but he had to stop dead in his tracks. Floating above the ground was a giant eyeball. He had the insane urge to try and enter into a staring contest with the thing.

"What are you supposed to be?"

It was merely a passing comment, he didn't expect to be answered.

"That's a bugbear."

Jiraiya spun around and was barely able to stop himself from attacking the helpful maid from last night. She looked somewhat puzzled by his reaction, but judging by the empty basket that she had, she was either on another laundry run, or had been out here feeding the familiars.

Now that Jiraiya thought about it, just how lazy could these nobles be? They had the servants feed their own familiars? Weren't the familiars supposed to be something they cherished? Shaking his head in consternation, he turned back to Siesta.

"Sorry, but try not to sneak up on me."

Siesta looked truly apologetic, but now that he thought about it, how the hell had she snuck up on him? He was Jiraiya of the freaking Sannin for crying out loud. Some Jounin couldn't even achieve something like that. Well, a mystery for another time. He had more important matters to attend to at the moment.

"Hey, Siesta, do you happen to know where the kitchens are?"

Siesta brightened considerably at his question.

"Of course, allow me to show them to you as an apology for startling you."

She finished her explanation with a small bow. Jiraiya merely waved her concern off.

"No, no. That was partly my fault, I got distracted by the, what was it, ah right, bugbear."

Siesta beamed at that.

"Well, then just follow me and I'm sure we can find you something to eat. You must need quite a bit of food for a man your size."

Jiraiya laughed her comment off. He could survive on whatever he needed, but when he could he liked to indulge every once in a while.

"I'd be much obliged."

Siesta smiled beatifically and made a follow me sort of gesture.

"Okay, this way then."

Jiraiya followed the cheerful maid to a wooden door that was in a small alcove of one of the buildings. He walked in and was immediately assaulted by the smells within the kitchen. He was introduced to the head cook within the kitchen and ushered into a corner that had a small wooden table and chair. He only had to wait a moment and a rich soup and fresh bread was placed in front of him. As well as a mug of what he assumed to be some type of ale.

As he ate he observed the controlled madness that was a kitchen for a school full of nobles. It seemed that breakfast hadn't actually started yet, so Siesta was content to keep him company as he ate, humming a small tune as she steadily peeled some potatoes for the head cook.

Jiraiya felt much more content with a full stomach and stood as soon as he was done. It was at this point that the head cook came over to have a short conversation.

"It's nice to meet you, my name is Marteau, you're the familiar that Vallière girl summoned correct?"

Jiraiya let out a snort at that.

"Well, I suppose I am in the loosest sense of the word."

Marteau let out a snort at that.

"Tell me, has that noble realized you are an actual human yet, and that you might have other obligations?"

Jiraiya gave a wry smile at this. It seemed that Marteau was actually fairly astute. This could be both good and bad.

"At the moment, my obligations aren't anyone's concerns. There is also the little fact that where I come from I'm considered dead."

Marteau nodded in understanding.

"Right, from what Siesta had told me, you were on death's door when you were summoned here. It's pretty amazing that you grew your arm back."

Jiraiya mere grinned in response to the somewhat questioning statement.

"Well, I'm just lucky in that way every once in a while. I keep on getting knocked down, but I'm a survivor. It doesn't matter how many times I'm knocked on my ass, I'll just get right back up."

Marteau burst into laughter at that.

"I like you familiar! You've got guts!"

Jiraiya grinned at the man; he felt that he was a pretty tough guy.

"I think you're okay as well. By the way, my name is Jiraiya."

Marteau nodded in acknowledgement, before glancing back to his kitchen.

"I have to get back to work. Well met, Jiraiya."

Jiraiya watched as the cook got back to work and couldn't help the comment that slipped out under his breath.

"Well met indeed."

It seemed that in his conversation with the cook, he had somewhat forgotten the maid that was sitting near him.

"I've never seen Mr. Marteau take such a liking to someone before. You must be a pretty nice guy Mr. Jiraiya!"

Jiraiya just smiled indulgently at the hard working maid. From what he had seen of the nobility so far, he much preferred the company of the servants. They were a hardworking people and hadn't been broken under the thumbs of the magic wielding nobles.

He sighed as he looked around. It was fairly relaxing in this kitchen, much more so than any place other than the clearing that he had been to in this world so far.

"I'm indebted to you Siesta, is there anything I can do to help out?"

Siesta seemed to think it over, before she held out a knife and another potato.

"Perhaps you can help me with these?"

Jiraiya nodded amicably and began to peel the potatoes with the maid. Before long the kitchen was bustling with even more activity as it seemed it was time to finally feed the spoiled brats. Jiraiya stretched as he put down the knife and a finished potato.

"Sorry to say, but I need to get to the dining hall and see what my idiot summoner is up to."

Siesta seemed a bit saddened, but she offered her assurances that she understood and Jiraiya left the kitchen. As he walked outside he noticed that the sun was really climbing in the sky now. Thankfully it looked as though there was only one of those, so he had no shock for the daytime.

Shaking his head, he ambled toward the direction that he could hear the most noise. If there were a gathering of rowdy teenagers every morning, then that would be the place to be. He found the hall easily enough and was able to easily slip into the rafters, especially with his application of the Touton jutsu once more.

He watched as the noble children slowly calmed down as they said a prayer to someone called Brimir and then began to dig into their meals. It was a somewhat boring affair, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. After all a shinobi's life couldn't be all battles all the time, especially in war. That was where he had perfected his waiting. It was an old friend that he knew quite well.

He watched on as they continued their meal. Except for an occasional flash of magic, they seemed like regular civilian children, even though they were a bit arrogant. He was getting ready to leave when he noticed a commotion happening on the other side of the hall. Directing his gaze in that direction, he felt his eyes widen as he recognized the Casanova from last night, an angry red welt on his face. He was shouting at one of the maids, unfortunately for him, this maid just so happened to be Siesta, who was clearly bowing in fear of angering the boy.

He may have let it slide, but the blonde mage raised his hand to strike the hard working maid, and Jiraiya hated to think that she would have to suffer that kind of abuse from a spoiled brat.

In a flash of leaves, Jiraiya appeared behind the mage, making the crowd gasp in surprise. He easily held the boy's arm, and from the muscle tone, it was clear the boy wasn't used to any kind of weapon or fighting.

"Oi, gaki. I think that's quite enough."

The blonde idiot could only gape in astonishment at Jiraiya for a moment, but it seemed that his bluster would not be denied.

"You dare lay your hands on me, commoner!? I haven't seen you before, unhand me!"

Jiraiya frowned at the kid's attitude. He really hated these types. The ones who walked around and believed the world owed them something. In fact most of the nobles here seemed to be like that, with maybe a few exceptions. He glanced over to the blue haired mage that was standing near the redhead from this morning. Perhaps they were friends?

Tabitha was clutching her staff as if it was a lifeline and she was watching him very warily. The redhead had noticed her friend's attention and was now scrutinizing him herself. He also saw a flash of pink in the audience. So, his summoner was in the audience as well. Perhaps this would be a fun opportunity after all.

"Now what reason would you have to strike this maid?"

He cast a quick glance at Siesta and noticed she was openly gaping at him, but her eyes betrayed her fear for him. It seemed people really didn't stand up to nobles in this place.

"She made two fair maidens shed tears. As a purveyor of love, I simply cannot allow that to happen. Therefore she must be punished for her transgressions."

Jiraiya grimaced at the blonde's answer. Great, he was an idiot. He looked to the staff table to see why they had yet to intervene and smiled wryly as they merely looked on in curiosity. After all it was just a noble punishing a servant, nothing to be worried about, no matter the reason. He felt the blonde idiot trying to wrench his arm free, but he simply clamped down tighter, causing the boy to let out a startled cry.

"What are you doing!? Unhand me! I'm perfectly within my rights!"

Jiraiya rolled his eyes; he had a pretty good idea of what had happened.

"So, gaki, you got caught cheating and instead of manning up to it, you decided to blame the help? I don't think I like you much at the moment."

The blonde boy growled in frustration, he was probably pretty used to always getting his way, well that was just too damn bad. Jiraiya was going to protect the kind maid who had helped him, if the blonde wanted to do something about it he needed to get stronger.

"You- How dare you talk to a noble that way!? I challenge you to a duel!"

Jiraiya opened his mouth, but found that he couldn't say anything to that. Had the idiot really just done what he thought he did?

"I'm sorry, I must have some earwax to get rid of, did you just challenge me to a duel?"

Jiraiya made sure to put forth all his incredulity into that statement. However, it looked like it was going to go right over the blonde idiot's head.

"Of course! You've slighted my honor! I must demand a payment, and I demand a duel!"

Well, Jiraiya supposed it might be something to pass the time.

"Very well, gaki. When and where?"

Jiraiya finally let go of the idiot's arm and he rubbed it with tears forming in his eyes.

"The Vestri Court, in one hour!"

His piece said, the idiot walked out of the hall, the majority of the students following after him. Jiraiya pulled a hand over his face. When he glanced over to Siesta, she seemed to be trembling in fear.

"Hey, he won't-"

Unfortunately he was cut off by the now teary eyed maid.

"Please Mr. Jiraiya! If we hurry, you can apologize to Guiche and this whole thing will just blow over! Please don't die for my sake!"

So the idiot's name was Guiche? Jiraiya was about to answer, but he was once more beaten to the punch.

"Familiar!"

Jiraiya winced at the volume in which Louise just shouted. What the hell was up with that girl's voice? However, before he could ponder anything further, the little mage began trying to pull him toward the direction that this Guiche. Needless to say, she didn't have chance in hell of succeeding. It was more like an annoying fly than anything else.

"How could you do something so rash!? We need to apologize to Guiche immediately! Hopefully we can catch him in time."

Jiraiya just sighed at the obvious doubt in his skills. He didn't know exactly how these mages fought, but he'd be damned if someone like Guiche would be able to get the better of him. He was a freaking Sannin, damn it! Of course, the people here didn't know that, and even if he told them, they would probably still be confused.

"Oi, what are all of you so afraid of?"

His question seemed to dumbfound the two girls. Apparently his utter lack of fear might have unnerved them a bit. It was Louise that found her voice first.

"How can a commoner, even if you are some sort of barbarian shaman, possibly beat a mage? It's just not possible!"

Siesta nodded along with Louise's explanation. Well that was quite the blow to his pride. It seemed he would have to put the fear of god into these mages if he was going to be underestimated that much. There was a time when two Akatsuki members would rather flee than fight him, and he was pretty damn sure that this Guiche character wasn't nearly at the level at Itachi or Kisame, even if he was a child prodigy like the Uchiha had been.

Cracking his neck, he began to limber up. He wasn't entirely sure, but he thought he knew of a good way to utterly terrify the nobility here. It would be an interesting test run, even if it didn't work. He looked at the tiny mage that had summoned him.

"I think it's about time I show you why I'm the Gallant Jiraiya. Pay close attention."

His piece said, he made his way toward where the idiot disappeared to. He had a duel to attend after all.


	2. Chapter 2

Jiraiya calmly strolled through the castle halls. He was aware that Louise was following behind him, but her input was utterly unnecessary. She seemed to be muttering under her breath, trying to convince herself that he was going to lose no matter what he did, despite the fact that he had already shown off some of his skills to her. Well that was fine, he was used to being underestimated, and it didn't matter to him that the tiny mage thought he was going to be killed.

Siesta on the other hand seemed to be genuinely worried about him. She glanced at him in a way that made him think she wanted to say something, but always stopped herself. It was a bit more understandable that that would be her reaction. Unlike Louise, she had not seen him do anything that really hinted at his true strength besides appear as if out of nowhere the previous night. However, that could just be because she wasn't paying attention and was understandably concerned for his wellbeing as she thought he was just another commoner like her.

His sedate pace eventually had him exiting the main building and walking out into the sunshine of a fairly beautiful courtyard. He glanced around and felt an eyebrow raise at all the nobles that had gathered to witness what they were sure to think of as a lynching. However, it was a fleeting kind of observation as he felt his attention drift to the center of the courtyard where the blonde idiot was standing arrogantly with his chest puffed out and arms crossed derisively.

Jiraiya rolled his eyes at the youth's posturing, conveniently forgetting that he was much the same in his own youth, although he had a feeling he was much more driven than this spoiled aristocrat. He briefly enjoyed the sun's warmth before he finally turned to the blonde disaster.

"Alright then gaki, what are your terms for the duel?"

Guiche posed dramatically before he even replied. If he was going to be like that then this was going to take forever to get done with.

"A noble's duel has rules. You are not a noble and therefore there will be no rules."

Jiraiya cracked his neck in anticipation at the gaki's terms. Well, he didn't want to cause some sort of international scandal by killing the idiot, so he decided to make an amendment, purely for the gaki's own benefit.

"Well that's great and all, but let's just keep on going until one of us yields. Sound fair?"

Guiche gave a haughty sniff at his proposal, but nodded slightly in acceptance.

"I suppose that will work."

Jiraiya grinned at this as he slid to the center of the courtyard. The kid at least had some sense.

A dramatic flair of, was that a rose?

"My name is Guiche de Gramont! My Runic name is Guiche the Bronze!"

Another wave of the rose and a vaguely humanoid armored being came into existence. Jiraiya studied the thing for a moment before sighing. It seemed that the gaki was severely underestimating him. Only one golem?

"This should be more than enough for a commoner. Prepare yourself!"

Another flourish of the rose and the thing was moving. Jiraiya felt an eyebrow raise at the head on charge that the thing was doing. It was slow, clunky, and if not for the fact that it was made of some kind of metal, most likely bronze since that was the idiot's runic name, it wouldn't even be able to hurt a regular swordsman worth his salt.

After what felt like an eternity the thing was finally in front of Jiraiya fist raised to strike. A swift punch clashed into the Toad Sage's face. He barely felt it. However, it seemed that the blonde idiot had yet to realize that his attack had done absolutely no damage. It also appeared that the rest of the nobles were unaware of this fact if the jeers he was hearing was anything to go by.

He scanned the crowd to see who was actually taking him seriously and was surprised to see the little blue haired mage be one of the ones not reacting, but he supposed he did pique her interest last night. It seemed that little Louise as well as Siesta couldn't bear to watch and were hiding their faces in their hands. Well, time to let the gakis know that he wasn't that easily defeated.

A well placed punch and the golem was crumbling to dust. For a moment the nobles continued their jeering, but after that moment a dead silence came over the courtyard. Jiraiya made sure to make eye contact with the blonde noble he was facing. He crossed his arms in a bored manner as he let out a discontent sigh.

"Is that it? You score one hit and don't even follow up? I'd hate to see what you'd do in a life or death battle, gaki."

A snarl made its way onto the blonde noble's visage.

"How dare a commoner insult my magic?! I don't know how you defeated the bronze golem, but I assure you that you won't get so lucky twice!"

Another flourish of the rose and at least six golems rose into existence. Jiraiya felt an eyebrow rise at this development. Apparently the blonde ponce could actually work a bit of magic with that wand of his. Well, he supposed it was time to see how well they coordinated together.

In a flash Jiraiya was in the guard of one of the golems, before anyone in the courtyard knew what happened, the golem was disintegrating back to earth. Jiraiya grinned to himself. One down, five to go. He nimbly dodged out of the way of a golem that tried to attack from his blind spot, throwing a kunai to see if it was good enough to destroy one of the things.

"Tch."

It seemed that they were actually pretty sturdy against weapons as the kunai just bounced off. Jiraiya ducked under a clumsily swung fist, before grabbing the overextended golem and throwing it into another one. He allowed a satisfied smile to creep forth as the two disintegrated due to the force of his throw. Three down, three to go.

Jiraiya smirked as he heard an indignant shout.

"Very well, if my golems alone are not enough to best you, then I shall join the fray myself!"

Jiraiya glanced over to the blonde noble and felt a little surprise as he made a sword from the earth. However, judging by the way the idiot gaki was holding the thing, he had no idea how to actually use it in combat. A feral grin crept across Jiraiya's features.

"Well, if that's the way you want to play, gaki."

In an instant Jiraiya was in front of Guiche and the blond noble could only gawk as he felt something slam into his wrist. Jiraiya felt the boy's grip loosen and with a flourish, he stole the boy's sword straight from his hand.

He then twirled around to block an incoming attack from one of the golems, but not before noticing a bright light emanating from his new hand. Jiraiya made short work of the attacking golem and then pounced on the other two, disposing of them fairly easily as well. However, he felt a frown beginning to form. True he was an okay swordsman, spending years on a battlefield and having to improvise did that to a soldier, but he shouldn't have been able to flow so smoothly with the sword.

He put the matter from his mind as a war cry sounded behind him and he twirled around to meet Guiche's reckless frontal attack. Jiraiya merely snorted as he casually slammed his foot into the noble's overextended leg. Guiche gave a cry of pain, but Jiraiya ignored it and followed up with a spinning kick that sent the teen skidding back. However, Jiraiya was actually surprised to see that the gaki had been able to somewhat dull the attack by jumping backwards instinctively and therefore wasn't out cold. Huh, maybe he had something after all. Well, time to test that.

To the amazement of everyone in the courtyard Jiraiya then threw the sword at Guiche. A startled cry was the only response before it embedded itself deep in the wall right beside Guiche's head.

"I'll admit, I'm surprised you're still conscious after I kicked you like that, but I'm pretty sure you realize that it's game over for you, gaki."

Jiraiya's words rang out in the now silent courtyard. It seemed that seeing someone actually match a magic user in combat without really using magic of their own was a bit of a shock for the nobles. However, judging by Guiche's face, he wasn't quite ready to give up yet. Jiraiya sighed at this. It was time to put one of his theories to work then, and hopefully scare a few nobles in the process.

Jiraiya flipped through hand seals and just as the blond noble was getting to his feet, Jiraiya moved. In a flash he was in front of the boy and smashed his fingertips into the boy's stomach.

He took some satisfaction in seeing the gaki's eyes widen in pain, before Jiraiya surged his gathered chakra through his fingertips and Guiche's eyes rolled up before he collapsed in a boneless heap.

Jiraiya caught the boy gently, before he slung him over his shoulder like a pack of flour. He then gazed at the gathered student body and gave them a positively feral grin. It was with some pride that he saw most of the first row of students take a wary step back.

He glanced toward Louise and saw that she was opening and closing her mouth like a gaping fish. A glance a Siesta confirmed that the maid was staring at him in utter disbelief, and another glance in the direction of the blue haired girl showed that she had remained mostly unchanged, though she was now studying him very intently.

"Well, shows over for now. I think I'll take this gaki here to the infirmary."

However, before he could move the redheaded girl with a chest that may have rivaled Tsunade's appeared in front of him, arms crossed and a calculating look in her eyes.

"What exactly did you do to him?"

Jiraiya looked as nonchalant as he possibly could before he answered.

"Oh, you know just testing a theory. Pretty sure it worked."

The red head's eyes narrowed at his answer, though she waited for him to expound on it.

"Just seeing if I could seal away his magic, we'll see if it worked when he wakes up."

He looked up at the crowd of students and saw the undisguised horror on almost all their faces.

Yup, looked like his work here was done, time to bring the gaki to the infirmary and see if the seal actually worked. However, they didn't call him a Seal Master for nothing. He was pretty sure the thing had stuck. So with one last wave to his gathered audience, he disappeared in a shunshin before the students erupted.

* * *

Louise felt numb as she watched her familiar disappear in a swirl of leaves. Had she actually been worried that he might get hurt? Not only had he pretty much completely defeated Guiche without the use of magic, he had made it a point to see if he could seal away his magic. What the hell had she summoned?

Before any of the other nobles could come out of their stunned stupor, she was already moving, on her way toward the infirmary. She glanced to the side and saw an equally shell shocked maid matching pace with her. Well, at least she wasn't the only one who hadn't expected that outcome. It seemed Siesta had also expected Louise's familiar to crash and burn.

Louise felt her cheeks heat up in embarrassment as she remembered the speed at which her familiar could move. If that wasn't an indication to his ability, she didn't know what was. And she had dismissed it, because she had thought she knew better. Well, he had definitely proven her wrong.

It was only another minute or two before Louise and Siesta were outside the infirmary door. Louise was almost scared at what she would find as she tentatively knocked on the door. She was only mildly surprised as her familiar answered and beckoned the two girls inside.

"I'm surprised you're showing any concern for this idiot. I have a feeling he's not the most liked by the ladies."

Louise stared incredulously at her familiar. He had just claimed he could seal away magic and he thought they were here for Guiche?

"Um, I think Miss Louise is more interested in the claim you made in the courtyard. Were you really able to seal away his magic?"

Jiraiya gave an intrigued "hmm" sound as he cast a glance at the prone form of the Gramont family's son.

"Well, I wasn't entirely sure it would work, but your abilities seem pretty similar to a chakra type, so I sealed away his chakra. No idea if it will actually stop him from using his magic."

Louis shivered at her familiar's calculating gleam. It seemed he only thought of Guiche as a measuring stick for the magi of her society. She was about to say something else, when a pained groan floated over from the bed.

"What, what happened to me?"

Louise looked over to see Guiche sitting up in the bed and holding his head in his hands.

"I feel like I got hit by a dragon. Did I do something to upset Tabitha?"

Jiraiya let out a low chuckle at that and Guiche's attention immediately snapped to her familiar. Louise watched on in a sort of morbid fascination as the blonde noble scrambled for his wand, producing the item with a flourish.

"Well, it seems I still haven't taught you your place! Let us continue in our duel!"

A flourish of Guiche's wand and Louise suddenly had a very bad feeling, especially since there seemed to be a glint in her familiar's eye. A second later and the bad feeling was confirmed as Guiche's magic seemed to implode on itself and it resulted in….

Louise felt her jaw drop. Guiche's spell had exploded, just like hers always did! She felt torn between gloating that the blonde noble was now like her and being utterly terrified of her familiar.

"Well, I'd say that was a resounding success."

Her familiar's satisfied grin sent even more chills down her spine.

"Now then, gaki. As of right now, your magic is out of whack. I put a seal on you that disrupts chakra, which is something that my own people use. My theory was that I would be able to disrupt the spiritual aspect, seems that I was spot on."

Guiche could only stare at Jiraiya in horror. It was actually Siesta who broke the horrified silence within the room.

"Can, can you change him back?"

Jiraiya gave the maid a thumbs up.

"Who do you think you're talking to girly? Fuuinjutsu is my bread and butter. I can get him back to normal in record time!"

His piece said, Jiraiya then advanced on the blonde noble. Another smash to the stomach and he was once again out cold.

"There, by the time he wakes up he'll be able to use his magic again."

Louise had watched the entire exchange with a strange feeling in her chest. Could her own magic perhaps be sealed? Was it possible that she had run into someone similar to her familiar? After all, Guiche's explosion was an awful lot like her own failed attempts at casting spells. She decided to pose her query to her familiar.

"Do you think it's possible that I have some sort of seal on my magic?"

Her familiar turned his attention solely to her after her question was asked.

"Hmm, I suppose it's possible, why do you ask?"

Louise bit her lip, she felt uncommonly timid. She wanted to hope, and with that hope her familiar could be the one to help her gain the ability to actually do magic. Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves she began her explanation.

"My nickname at this academy is Louise the Zero. I hate that name. It represents my success rate at using magic."

Jiraiya held neither pity nor understanding in his gaze as he calmly listened to her fears of being unable to cast a single spell, of trying again and again and again, and still never getting the spell right. She had studied longer and harder than anyone else in her age group, but she still hadn't been able to use a spell.

When Louise ended her explanation, Jiraiya was still merely sitting calmly, but his head had turned to the side and his eyes had closed as though he was contemplating something. Finally his eyes snapped open, making Louise jump a little.

"And, even if you aren't blocked are you gonna give up?"

Louise bristled at that insinuation. She had worked her ass off to even be able to cast the explosions that she caused. All of that work wasn't going to waste on her watch.

"Of course not! If that's the case then I'll just have to find out what the real problem is! I'm never going to give up on being a mage!"

For a second she thought she saw a flash of respect in her familiar's gaze, but it was gone in the next instant.

"Alright then, meet me outside the gates in one hour. Let's see if you can back up that determination."

His piece said, her familiar stood and walked out of the room, his wooden sandals clacking on the stone tile with every step until she was unable to hear him anymore.

Louise waited for a fraction of a moment before she rushed out after her familiar. She would get to the bottom of her problem damn it!

* * *

Jiraiya gazed out across the road from a convenient tree near the castle. His fight with the blonde noble was good for gauging the ability of the students of the school. He would say that their abilities ranked around a Genin, but the actual execution was that of something lower. Well, he supposed it would be pretty easy to take on any of the students in the school, now he needed to find an adult mage to gauge how this world's mages really fought, preferably someone in the military. He supposed that would have to be a project for another time.

The more concerning aspect of that fight was his ability to wield the sword that the noble had made flawlessly. Jiraiya knew that he could handle weapons pretty well, but he also knew that kenjutsu was one of his weaker points. That left the question of how in the hell he was able to use that sword like he did. He prided himself on being able to know the ins and outs of his own abilities and to have something new just spring up and fall in his lap left him with a wary feeling.

He glanced down at the seal that was engraved on his hand. Perhaps it had something to do with being summoned into this world. He had noticed that he seemed to be the only human familiar, the rest being animals. He supposed he was something of an extenuating case. However, it seemed his musings would be cut short as he heard the footsteps of an approaching student.

Jiraiya glanced down and was rewarded with the sight of Louise, now by herself, looking around for him. Well, he supposed he shouldn't keep the little noble waiting. He casually dropped down, smirking as he Louise gave a startled cry at his appearance.

"Well, nice of you to finally join me, gaki."

Louise glared at him obviously trying to light him on fire with her eyes. Since she wasn't an Uchiha that obviously didn't work, but he gave her props for trying.

"Don't scare me like that! And I arrived here within the hour timeframe!"

It looked like if he wanted to forge this little slip of a mage into something great he would have to beat that pride out of her. For the time being he was going along with the charade of being a Familiar, but as soon as he found a chance to get out of the deal he was going to take it.

However, he might as well make the girl a decent mage before he left, after all she did summon him of all things. Granted he had no idea how to create a decent mage, but Jiraiya had never been one to sweat the small details.

Looking at the girl now full of a tentative hope, he decided to test something before he actually knocked the girl on her ass with an unsealing technique.

"Well, let's actually see you perform some magic first. I need to know what I'm working with before I decide if unsealing is the way to go."

Louise nodded at his instruction and began chanting a spell. Jiraiya thought that it was overly long, but also knew that a few of the jutsu that he used also required a ridiculous amount of hand signs, so he really shouldn't be talking.

A moment later and it seemed that the pink haired mage had finished her chant and with a flourish of her wand she produced….

…an explosion.

He didn't know what he expected, but he was surprised by the intensity of the thing. Luckily he had been focused on her to the point of the spell and he could safely say that her magic wasn't out of whack. Now to break the news to the kid, who would probably not take it all that well.

"Sorry, gaki."

Jiraiya winced as the once hopeful expression morphed into a forlorn one. Guess she was really banking on him being able to magically unseal her magic, and if that wasn't redundant he didn't know what was. Shaking his head he offered her an apologetic expression. After all, he too knew what it was like to try your damndest, but have it fail in the end.

"From what I saw, the way your magic was moving was just like the blonde idiot's, but there was something a little different. I suppose you might have a different type of magic than the others at this school."

Louise sighed and Jiraiya was a little alarmed to see tears gathering at the corners of her eyes.

"Why can I never do a spell right then? I thought that you would for sure be able to answer my question!"

Jiraiya could only shake his head as the girl trembled with suppressed self-pity. Damn it, he never did like seeing anyone of the fairer sex cry. He supposed that was the curse of being gallant. Sighing he flicked the girl on the forehead gently, definitely not as hard as he did last night.

She placed a hand on her forehead and gazed at him with watery blue eyes and a questioning gaze. Damn it, he was such a sucker sometimes.

"What happened to all that bravado back in the infirmary? Weren't you the one who said that you wouldn't give up? If you fail over and over again, you just brush off those failures and either try harder, or approach the problem from a different angle. I'll tell you this now, I don't get along with quitters or people who wallow in self-pity."

Louise still looked at him with some unshed tears, but the longer he had talked, the more determination he could see blossoming within the girl. Apparently he had struck a chord. That was good. She would need that fire.

"Hmph, I don't need some brute of a familiar to tell me he knows anything about magic! I'm Louise Francoise Lu Blanc de La Vallière, and I will become one of the greatest mages to ever live!"

Jiraiya cracked a grin at that. That kind of determination he could definitely work with, even though he really did have no real experience with this magic other than a brief duel with what was probably not even one of the best students in the school.

"Ok then gaki, we'll see if you can actually back your words up."

Jiraiya had never had an apprentice that used something completely unrelated to jutsu before, but he definitely knew how to get results. After all, he had trained some of the strongest shinobi, he could definitely train one of the strongest mages.

* * *

It had been a day since the confrontation that her familiar had with Guiche, and Louise was still getting used to the terrified looks that anyone gave her whenever she passed through the halls. After all, she had summoned someone that could take their magic away on a whim, and to a mage that was one of the scariest punishments that they could ever consider.

At first she reveled in the novelty of being able to walk around and not be called a Zero, but the experience was soon beginning to wear off. She never wanted to be feared. Respected, maybe, but never feared. Well, if she was honest, maybe a mixture of both, like her mother was.

After the brief meeting with Jiraiya outside the walls of the castle yesterday, her familiar had seemed to have disappeared. No matter where she went she couldn't seem to find him. It was once more early in the morning and she had wanted to go to town today to give her familiar a new weapon. She wasn't really sure if he needed one, but she figured that a warrior could always use a backup weapon of some sort.

Unfortunately, she couldn't even do that because he had ditched her! Where the hell did that brute of a familiar go?

As she was passing by the female bathhouse she heard a low giggle that seemed to be a whisper on the wind. She stopped for a moment before looking in the direction that the sound had come from and almost fell over at the sight that greeted her.

Crouching by an obvious hole and madly scribbling something in a notebook, was none other than her familiar. He was grinning like a madman and making no attempts to hide his blatant voyeurism.

Louise felt an unholy rage come over her at her familiar. She had just been spending the last hour searching for him and he had been here, peeping! That wasn't something that she could let stand. Not even bothering to really chant a spell, she merely flicked her want out and channeled as much willpower as she could towards her familiar. She never thought she would think so, but the resulting explosion was deeply satisfying.

Louise heard various screams from the bathhouse and what sounded like a stampede of feet quickly moving towards the exit. However, before anything could happen, she felt the world whisk away at an incredible pace once more. It stopped after a moment in one of the abandoned courts of the castle.

"Ah, gaki, why'd you have to go and ruin my fun?"

Louise really wanted to cast another explosive spell at her familiar, but didn't trust her aim to be true as the world had taken a rather nasty habit of spinning more than she would like. She would have to settle for a verbal explosion instead.

"You stupid, perverted familiar! What kind of pervert openly peeks into the female bathing area!?"

Jiraiya mere scratched his nose nonchalantly at her outburst for a second before turning to her.

"You don't understand gaki! I'm not a pervert!"

He then struck a ridiculous pose with his stance widened and arms outstretched. It only lasted for a moment though as he appeared right in front of her face, both thumbs held up.

"I'm a super pervert!"

Louise retaliated with another explosion. This time she definitely hit him as he went flying back.

"That's not something to be proud of, you perverted old man! I bet most of the girls aren't even half your age!"

It seemed that Jiraiya recovered pretty quickly from her explosions as he had popped up to another position a hand over his heart.

"Oh, you wound me! I'm a sage from where I'm from! One of the few so connected to nature that they can actually feel it!"

Louise sent another explosion, sending him flying back once more.

"Then you're a Perverted Sage!"

Jiraiya froze for a moment at her language before he let out an amused chuff.

"Hmm, I guess that's always going to be one of my titles."

A little put off by his abrupt shift in demeanor, Louise could only look at him questioningly.

A shake of the head and he was now looking at her with serious eyes, sitting with his legs crossed looking as though he were utterly at peace with the world.

"Well, what exactly was it that you wanted to discuss with me? You've been looking for me for a while after all."

Louise was going to answer before she replayed what he had just said in her head. She crushed the urge to smack him with another explosion, but it was a close thing.

"You knew I was looking for you!"

Jiraiya merely raised an eyebrow at that and Louise could only sigh. Of course he would know, the man was just that infuriating. She crossed her arms as she continued on with her explanation.

"In any case, I want to go into town today. I think you need a weapon that is easily available."

Just as she finished her plan, a knife was buried in the wall right beside her face, although it didn't look anything like any knife she had ever seen. However, it was definitely enough to startle her.

"Wha-"

She glared at her familiar who had adopted an entirely too innocent expression.

"Well, what do you know? Apparently if I think real hard, kunai go flying towards people!"

He was definitely making fun of her, but for now she would have to let it slide. At the moment he held all the cards, but she would get him a decent weapon if it was the last thing she did.

"Alright, can we at least go into town and look, you never know what you might find there."

Jiraiya gazed at her for a moment, obviously deciding the pros and cons of going, before he gave a nod.

"Alright, gaki. I needed to check something out anyway."

Louise sighed as she saw a mischievous glint enter into her familiar's eye.

"I wanted to see actual bathhouses anyway, there are too many students here for me to really do good research."

With the last part being said under Jiraiya's breath, Louise chose to ignore it in favor of her sanity. Hopefully she could survive this trip with a bit of dignity intact.

* * *

Jiraiya was fairly amused by the fascination that the small mage was showing within the small town that they were visiting. Obviously she hadn't been around the more common people very often. Hopefully he would never have to take her on an information gathering mission because she stood out even more than Naruto ever did and he hadn't thought that was physically possible.

Clearing his throat, she turned to face him as they rode past a fountain that seemed to fascinate her.

"So where exactly is the place we're going to find this weapon that you insist I need?" It looked like it took quite a bit of effort for Louise to turn her attention back to the task at hand.

Apparently she had lived a more sheltered life than even he could have predicted. Well, that was easily fixed once they actually got started with the training aspects of what they were going to do. He wouldn't have any sort of lazy apprentice, even if they were a mage.

"Right, well, it should be around here somewhere, just give me a second."

Jiraiya amusedly watched on as she looked around trying to pinpoint the closest blacksmith or armory until she finally seemed to find what she was looking for.

"There it is!"

Another moment later and the two of them were walking into a dimly lit armory, Jiraiya had to make sure he ducked to fit through the door. He supposed that the warriors here were built more along the lines of the traditional shinobi and not like his own hulking mass.

Once inside, he swept a quick gaze around the shop. There seemed to be quite a few weapons on display, everything from axes to maces to swords. Jiraiya sighed as he couldn't see anything that pointed to the person being able to forge kunai or knowing someone who could, perhaps the clone he had made to gather information would fare better.

"Welcome to my humble shop!"

Jiraiya looked over to the rather portly man that greeted them. He was wearing a simple blue tunic and sensible brown trousers. He had graying black hair and some hint of former muscle. He continued on with what was probably the standard introduction that he told all the clients.

"What can I help you with?"

Jiraiya looked around again as Louise strode forward. Now was probably a good time to see if the little mage had any business sense.

He watched on in slowly dawning horror as he realized that the girl had absolutely no business sense whatsoever. She was completely enamored with the first weapon that the man showed her, even though it was clearly a decorative sort of piece, outrageously expensive, and they were looking for a practical piece. Sighing, he decided to intervene before his summoner could buy him something that was liable to get him killed.

"Gaki, never buy the first thing any businessman shows you."

Louise and the owner flinched at his voice. Apparently they had forgotten he was there. Louise looked from the golden sword to Jiraiya with what looked like longing.

"But…but the sword will reflect on my status as well was yours. Shouldn't it be something grand like this sword?"

Jiraiya wanted to smack his face in frustration. It looked as though Louise was still being driven by pride. That was certainly going to be a challenge to iron out of her. Especially when she decided that she had the technical knowhow to buy a sword when a deadly warrior who had fought in two wars and more bloody conflicts than years she had been alive was standing right beside her. Not that she really knew anything about that quite yet.

"Look, gaki, I know you want to go for the flashiest and what looks like the priciest sword in the shop, but pricey and flashy don't always equate to good."

He noticed that the owner was turning a bit red, either in anger or embarrassment, he didn't know, but Jiraiya was a smooth talker, he had to be to run an information network as extensive as his.

"That's not to say that the craftsmanship isn't impressive, it's just that the piece is more a decorative one than one I would take on the battlefield. After all, it would be a shame to stain such an elegant blade with blood and gore."

Louise went rather pale at his description while the owner seemed somewhat mollified. Jiraiya breathed easier at the two reactions, it seemed that the crisis had been averted for the time being. However, before he could really begin to haggle with the shopkeeper, a jarring laugh came from behind him.

"He's got you there, buddy. I think he might be the first person that came in here and wasn't even slightly tempted to get that gold monstrosity!"

Jiraiya turned around quickly. It was almost impossible for someone to sneak up behind him, that maid notwithstanding, so he really wanted to make sure he assessed whatever threat they were.

However as soon as he had turned he realized that there was no one there. He was wondering if he had finally gone off the deep end and was hearing voices when one of the swords in the barrel across from him cross-guard moved and the damn thing spoke.

"I have to say, you're one of the strongest looking guys I've ever seen. Wanna team up?"

That was a ridiculous statement if he ever heard one, not in the least because how was the sword supposed to see without any eyes?

"Louise, am I hallucinating? Is this a genjutsu?"

He glanced over to the pink haired mage and saw that she too was floored by this new development. Well then, he had now learned a few things. One, even in a magic kingdom, a talking sword was pretty odd. Two, he wasn't hallucinating. Three, if someone had cast a genjutsu, or the magic equivalent, he would have to shake their hand for getting him to believe that a talking sword was plausible and that he was having a conversation with it.

He looked back to the sword and he somehow got the impression that if it had eyebrows it would be raised at him in some sort of condescending manner.

"I don't know what this genjutsu thing you're talking about is, but I'm definitely not a hallucination. My name is the great Derflinger! You can call me Derf if you feel so inclined."

Jiraiya turned around to the shopkeeper and jabbed a thumb over at Derf.

"Right then, how much for the talking sword?"

It had taken him a few minutes and a bit of haggling, but he got Derf for what was probably an outrageously cheap price for a talking sword. Apparently he had been annoying all the other customers who had gone into the shop and the owner was quite keen to see the sword out the door. That worked just fine for Jiraiya as he felt that this sword was something that was pretty unique.

"Man, it feels great to have the sun shine on me again after so long! Do you know how annoying it is to be kept in a barrel in a dark shop?"

Jiraiya chuckled a bit at the question as he positioned Derf over his shoulder. This had two benefits of making it easier for him to converse with the sword as well as being able to draw him easily if the need ever arose, while still not getting in the way of the kunai hidden on his person.

"I suppose you were in there for a little while, eh? Must be nice to be out again."

Jiraiya glanced at Louise who was still pouting a bit at the fact that he had gotten Derf when she had tried to champion a few other swords, none of which looked as practical as Derf did.

"By the way, since you have sentience and everything, how old are you?"

Jiraiya heard the sword mumble for a second before he gave an answer.

"A good question! Let see now, carry the two, right! I'd say I'm about 6 millennia old!"

Jiraiya nearly tripped as Derf revealed what his age was. What the hell? Who just leaves a 6,000 year old sword lying around in some out of the way shop, especially one that not only had sentience, but also had a personality? A glance over in Louise direction and once more her stunned expression confirmed that this was pretty damn uncommon. Well, he could work with that. After all, he tried to make everything he did uncommon in some way or another.

"I gotta say, you're a pretty damn old sword."

Derf immediately had a rebuttal for that.

"Well, you're not exactly a spring chicken yourself, boss!"

Jiraiya felt a twitch develop near his eye at that.

"Hey, I'll have you know that I'm in the prime of my life!"

Everything was quiet for a moment, before the previously pouting Louise finally spoke up.

"Not even I believe that, and I've seen some of the things you do."

Damn it! Why did he have to always be put down! He was one of the most powerful shinobi to ever live! Why did he have to put up with this crap from a teenager with insecurities and an old as dirt sword!? He was the Gallant Jiraiya damn it! He should be respected!

While he was having an inner fit, Derf and Louise had been carrying on their conversation.

"So you summoned him and he has some crazy abilities, huh? I guess that's pretty interesting. So what can he do?"

However, before Louise could go blurting out his abilities for everyone to hear within earshot, Jiraiya decided to intervene.

"I'd rather we not talk about that here. My old job left me with a healthy dose of paranoia and I really don't want prying ears to hear anything we have to say."

Louise looked offended at the thought that what she perceived as commoners would dare reveal any noble's secrets.

"What!? They wouldn't dare!"

Jiraiya ran a hand over his face. Dear god, the girl was more naïve than Naruto, another thing he had never thought would happen, especially since Naruto had refused to give up on Sasuke, even after the boy had driven a fist through the blond gaki's shoulder.

"Yeah, we're gonna be working on some other stuff before I even think of trying to figure out what's up with your magic."

Louise at least had the presence of mind to look at least marginally frightened by the expression that was on Jiraiya's face. That was a good, it seemed he still had the ability to strike fear into the hearts of his apprentices. He hadn't lost his touch.

A comment from Derf made his grin grow even wider.

"You know what, partner. I think we'll get along just fine."

* * *

It took them awhile, but they finally made it back to the Academy by nightfall, for which Louise was grateful. The road was beginning to grate on her nerves as her familiar and his new found sword had been trading perverted stories back and forth for at least half the trip. She had tried to shut them up with an explosion, but Jiraiya deftly dodged the attack, and Derf just laughed uproariously at the whole situation. One of these days she would smash that smug expression off her familiar's face.

She was rolling her shoulder out when she heard something fast approaching them. A second later a salamander was flying towards her familiar. Unfortunately for the poor salamander, no one had warned it that it was unwise to try and startle her familiar and it was sent in the other direction by a flying kick where it promptly smacked into a wall and slumped down into unconsciousness.

Louise squinted at the salamander for a moment before looking back up Jiraiya.

"Wait. Don't I know who this salamander is supposed to belong to?"

Jiraiya merely shrugged. Apparently he could knock out the creature without batting an eye. It made her wonder what kind of strange things he had been exposed to in his life. Sighing, she shook her head and began to walk towards her room, she needed sleep if she was going to be able to function tomorrow. They would finally have some classes and she needed to be prepared.

"Whatever, can you wake me at dawn?"

She noticed a flash of approval in her familiar's expression before it was gone and he nodded.

"No problem, I need to do a few more things before I head to bed. Good night, gaki."

Louise rolled her eyes before stifling a yawn and heading towards her room. Her bed was calling and she didn't want to ignore that call.

* * *

Jiraiya watched the tiny mage make her way back to her room with a look of approval. She was beginning to learn already. Before she would have demanded that he wake her at dawn, but at least this time it had been a request and not a demand, one that Jiraiya could oblige easily enough.

For a moment he did nothing but stand in the courtyard that they had entered in, but in swirl of leaves he was traveling to the clearing where he had summoned Pa the first night. He needed to see how the shinobi world was doing, especially since he hadn't had a real chance to summon the toad yesterday as he had been conducting very important research.

A quick summoning jutsu and the elderly toad was once more appearing in a puff of smoke. However, this time he seemed a bit baffled.

"Jiraiya-chan? Is everything alright? Why have you summoned me so soon after our last meeting?"

Jiraiya felt a bit confused at those words. Last time he had summoned Fukasaku it had been quite a long time since he had supposedly died. Now it seemed he had summoned the elder toad much quicker. Apparently the time divide was really out of whack between these two places.

"Holy shit! Did that frog just talk!?"

Oh right, he had forgotten about Derf. The elder's reaction was to merely stare at the sword incredulously.

"Did that sword just talk, Jiraiya-chan?"

Jiraiya sighed as he explained his latest escapades throughout this land of magic while Fukasaku patiently listened. He finally came to the part about Derflinger.

"And get this, apparently this hunk of metal is around 6,000 years old."

"Hey I resent that!"

Jiraiya thoroughly enjoyed the look of shock on the old toad's face. He couldn't surprise the elder often and when he did he always felt like he had accomplished something. Snorting the elder studied the sword with interest.

"I think you're the oldest thing I've ever seen, and yet you really don't act your age."

Derf snorted at that.

"Yeah, well, after a couple thousand years you start to lose your mind a little bit. Keeps me from wanting to try and slaughter everyone, I went through a phase like that once, it kinda sucked, for everyone involved."

Fukasaku merely sniffed at that.

"Indeed."

He then turned his attention back to Jiraiya.

"Now, I'm curious as to why the summoning time has become so different, especially compared to last time."

Jiraiya nodded in agreement to that.

"I am too, maybe you should go back and then I can re-summon you. See how much time passes?"

Fukasaku appeared to think over his suggestion for a minute before he nodded his consent.

"It would probably be for the best."

Jiraiya nodded as the toad disappeared in a plume of smoke. A minute later he reappeared with another plume.

He blinked for a second before nodding.

"It seems only a few seconds passed before I was summoned this time. Ma is probably going crazy right now trying to figure out what's going on."

Jiraiya grinned at that. Well, at least they had their answer for the time being, although there was no telling when that might change.

"Since there's nothing for you to really report, how about you just stay back for now, I'll summon you again in a couple of nights unless something comes up."

Fukasaku once more nodded his consent.

"I'd hate for Ma to be too furious with me for constantly being in and out. Go ahead, I'll see you when you summon me again, Jiraiya-chan."

Jiraiya gave a nod of acknowledgement before Fukasaku once more disappeared in a puff of white smoke. Jiraiya cracked his neck as he sprang up into the trees. Now it was time to go over everything that his clone had picked up during its time in the town.

"I'll say this about you partner, there's never a dull moment with you."

Jiraiya grinned at that. He did try after all.

* * *

Louise was feeling somewhat sluggish as she dug into her breakfast. She had been awoken by her familiar, but he had disappeared almost right afterwards, she had also spotted Kirche looking around as though trying to find someone, but she had put that out of her mind for now. It felt as though her sleep had been disturbed in the night. She felt as though there were half remembered dreams, but every time she tried to remember what she had dreamed about, she realized that she couldn't quite remember.

Sighing, she half-heartedly ate. Although there were classes today, her familiar had told her to meet him in one of the many unused courtyards after she was done. Well, she supposed she wasn't going to get anywhere with breakfast today because the toast she was attempting to eat tasted like wood. She pushed her half-finished plate away and began to make her way towards the courtyard.

As she was walking she noticed the maid, Siesta, was also making her way in that direction. Louise decided that she wouldn't mind some sort of companionship, even if it was the maid who offered it, as she walked towards her familiar.

"Siesta!"

Siesta looked startled for a moment before she turned around and smiled at Louise.

"Good morning, Miss Vallière."

Louise returned the greeting with a nod.

"What are you doing at the moment?"

Siesta seemed somewhat surprised that Louise was even attempting to make small talk, and Louise supposed she was actually a little surprised at herself. Before summoning Jiraiya she would never have thought to try and talk with the help, she would have thought it beneath her.

Thankfully Siesta answered before anything could get too awkward.

"Oh, I'm just going to enjoy the sun in one of the courtyards before the day really begins. Yourself?"

Louise grimaced as she continued on to whatever she was about to face.

"My familiar wanted to talk to me about something and I'm curious about what it is."

Siesta seemed interested at the mention of Louise's familiar.

"Would it be alright if I tag along?"

Louise shrugged in response to the maid's query.

"I don't see why not. I'm pretty sure he didn't tell me to come alone or anything, just to make sure that I meet him after breakfast."

Siesta nodded and the two continued their trek towards the empty courtyard that Jiraiya had pointed out. When they got there they were greeted by a strange sight.

Louise hadn't noticed, but while she was at breakfast, Guiche was conspicuously absent. Apparently he had taken it upon himself to go and annoy Jiraiya, even though he was clearly terrified of the man, if the shaking was anything to go by.

"Please! I need to become stronger and you're the strongest person in the Academy! Please teach me so that I can be able to fight and not bring any more shame to my family name!"

Jiraiya looked utterly uninterested in the boy as he casually picked his ear with his pinky.

"And I've told you, gaki, I don't know if you have what it takes. Aren't all the mages supposed to be terrified of me right now? I can seal your magic away like I did before."

That seemed to make Guiche pause, but he continued right on through anyway.

"I know that, and while that does scare me somewhat, I know that I can never be a true warrior if I let fear rule me. I want to become stronger!"

Jiraiya sighed at this, but if Louise had learned anything about her familiar, it was that he respected people who stuck to their guns and didn't give up.

"Fine, I'll give you a little training on the side. It would probably do you some good to get toughened up anyway. Why do the weirdos always flock to me?"

Louise snorted at that as she approached her familiar.

"I'm pretty sure you're king of the weirdos, especially since you walk around looking like that."

Jiraiya sniffed haughtily at her comment.

"I'll have you know I am the height of fashion where I come from."

Louise rolled her eyes as she turned to Siesta.

"Somehow I doubt that."

However, now wasn't the time to be swayed by her familiar's ever odd behavior. She needed to know what she was going to be doing before she began to go crazy.

"So why exactly did you want us to meet out here?"

Jiraiya grinned at her, and Louise had a sinking feeling as she looked at his mad grin. That expression suddenly made her doubt her own intelligence in seeking him out.

"Well, although you don't believe me about a lot of things, I want you to believe this. I can say with no attempts at boasting that I'm a damn good teacher. However, what I teach isn't magic and it isn't something you'll ever find in books. No, what I really teach is the ability to survive. Not just get along in life, but to survive any encounters you might face, or if you can't do that at least make your sacrifice mean something."

Louise was enraptured by her familiar's words. It seemed as though he thought that they were all going to be attacked at any given time, even though they were safely ensconced within the Academy.

"I can tell you now, you two nobles live in a delusional world. You have no real danger sense and if you ever have the need to be without the title of nobility, your ship will be well and truly sunk. I've made the best damn survivors there are because they have the guts to survive. I've seen it a bit in the two of you, but personally I don't think that it's enough. After all…."

Suddenly Louise couldn't breathe. Her lungs were compressed into her chest as though an invisible force had clenched them and would not let go. In a flash one of her familiar's strange knives were flying towards her head and she felt it pierce into her brain. She was dead and she couldn't…

As suddenly as that had happened, it stopped. Louise took in a lungful of glorious air. She was vaguely aware that Guiche was emptying the contents of his stomach not too far away from them and that Siesta seemed to have fainted from the sensation.

Louise then realized that she was on her hands and knees and that she couldn't seem to stop shaking.

"That's just a taste. I don't know if there are the types of monsters in human skin that I am in this world, but even if there aren't, I'm going to make damn sure that if someone like me pops up, you can take care of yourselves."

Louise nodded as she shakily got to her feet, she didn't know if she could speak yet, although Guiche seemed to have gotten that back. He was mumbling something under his breath and Louise caught a little bit of it.

"I challenged him to a duel! What kind of idiot am I! A noble's pride? Ha!"

Louise could understand the sentiment, it seemed as though Guiche was actually lucky that her familiar seemed more inclined to merely test a theory and see if he could seal magic away. As she looked at him, she couldn't help but shiver. He seemed so goofy almost all the time that she sometimes forgot what he was like in the fight with Guiche. If he could be like that, were there others? Other people who looked completely normal, but had an iron will and the ruthlessness needed to kill?

Surprisingly, it was the sword on Jiraiya's back that popped up and somehow gave a low whistle.

"God damn, Partner. You must be a beast. I haven't felt killing intent that powerful in ages, and you didn't even act on it."

Jiraiya grinned at Derf's statement as he folded his arms and looked at the two recovering mages.

"Oh, you haven't seen anything yet. By the time I'm done with these two, they'll be ready for almost anything. Now then, shall we get started?"

Yeah, Louise was questioning her decision to come to her familiar for help. Maybe she had gone crazy, but if he was able to get her to utilize her magic, then she would go through any punishment he could give her. She was tired of being a Zero.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited by: xbox432
> 
> RedhathackerSin: The original author's note remains the same except for a few alterations at the end. This is also cross posted on ff.net, so there's that.
> 
> Hmm, yeah let's stop it there. Well, I gotta say, the response to this story has been phenomenal. How the hell did it get 80 reviews, over 300 favs and follows and almost all reviews being positive? I have no idea, this was an idea that I thought could be fun, might be interesting, especially since Jiraiya is one of my favorite characters. Anyway, thanks a ton for the positive responses and I hope this chapter meets your guys standards, if it doesn't, then sorry, I'm only human and can't please everybody. It pleases me and that's what really matters as why write something that I, myself, won't read?
> 
> So, there were a few minor quibbles that kept on pooping up in multiple reviews that I'm gonna address here, if you never read author notes then you'll probably still be scratching your head even after I explain it here. One of the overwhelming things that you guys seem to be under the impression of is that Jiraiya has only one arm. That's not the case, he has both arms, in the previous chapter he got it back during the sealing of the familiar contract, many people were surprised by this. I guess I just didn't write it clear enough. Does this mean that Jiraiya is ridiculously overpowered for the start? Why, yes, yes it does. However, as we go on there will still be challenges, especially since he can be taken by surprise on occasion. In my mind there are mages that can match him, but we don't see any of them quite yet. People like Karin and Colbert are on his level, but they generally don't fight unless absolutely necessary.
> 
> Another thing people were talking about was the closeness to cannon, and sorry, but there will be a semi closeness probably throughout the story. However, think of that as more of a template than anything else. Shit is going to change within cannon merely because of Jiraiya's presence, some people who die will live, some who live will die, that's just how I envision this story. There will be major changes probably later on, but right now we're in the setup stages. If that drives you nuts, I'd recommend staying away for a bit and then coming back to see if it meets more your taste as the story progresses.
> 
> Right then, I guess it's time for my usual spiel. This chapter was unbetaed so if there are any typos or grammar errors that's why. This shit is over 9k in length for a chapter, I'm sure there's something. Questions, comments, concerns? PM me! If you're interested in betaing this story, PM me! If you're feeling kind please leave a review on the way out, there not the sole reason I write, but I'll admit to every once in awhile going through them and thinking, they like the story! I must write more! Tis a weakness that I think all author's on this site share. I think that's pretty much everything so onto the disclaimer!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Zero no Tsukaima! They belong to Kishimoto Masashi and the late Nobaru Yamaguchi respectively. Please support the official release!
> 
> P.S. For anyone who's interested, I recently joined a group of authors called Team Dragon Star and did a one shot for them called The Rabbit Hole. I'll also now be contributing to some of their stories, a link to both the one shot and the author page can be found in my profile. RedhathackerSin out!
> 
> P.P.S. A big thank you to xbox432 who had edited this chapter a long time ago. Finally replaced my unedited version!

**Author's Note:**

> Edited by: xbox432
> 
> RedhathackerSin: The original author's note remains the same except for a few alterations at the end.
> 
> What the hell? I woke up this morning and I was like, gonna finish the next chapter of Lucid Berserker Zero today! Got about 500 words in, was like, I'm not feeling it, then to try and unblock me, I wrote this monster. This is the longest chapter I have ever written. I actually got the word count of the chapter higher than 10 grand, even without the Author's note. Damn, but I have a good feeling about this one. I was just sitting around one day, and the idea of Jiraiya getting summoned into Zero no Tsukaima seemed to be really fun. The Super Pervert in a harem anime/manga/light novel, dear god what have I done? But well, his perversion will probably be a bit scaled back, simply because I prefer the crazy badass Jiraiya to the crazy pervert, though I like them both and he will still be his good old perverted self, especially after the battle with Guiche. So yeah.
> 
> Another thing that I absolutely wanted to do was have him still have the ability to summon toads. Do you know how many fanfiction are out there of Naruto being flung into another dimension/world and not being able to summon toads? A lot. So here I had him able to summon toads, but unable to be reversed summoned. Zero no Tsukaima is perfect for this because if anyone is like, why can this happen like this, I can answer, meh magic. That's not the actual answer, and magic itself is pretty tricky, but it will be a fun answer until stuff gets revealed.
> 
> Yeah, I think my author's rant is over. I'm gonna try and work on Lucid/Zero tomorrow. Here's hoping I actually finish that chapter. Onto my usual spiel!
> 
> If this is the first of my works you have read, then welcome, if you are a recurring reader, hello again and welcome to the new story. As it is new I have no beta as of yet and so there may be typos and grammatical errors. Please overlook these, I may just beta this one myself. However, if you are willing to beta for it, please PM me! Questions, comments, concerns? PM me. If you are feeling kind leave a review on your way out. They're not the reason I write, but damn does it sure motivate me every once in awhile. Right, disclaimer time.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Zero no Tsukaima! They belong to Kishimoto Masashi and the late Nobaru Yamaguchi respectively. Please support the official release!
> 
> P.S. A big thank you to xbox432 who had edited this chapter a long time ago. Finally replaced my unedited version!
> 
> P.P.S. Another of my cross posts on ff.net. I'm going to post the rest relatively soon. Hopefully this one gets some fun reads to the people in ao3. Have a nice day!


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